


Born to the Wild

by lockhearttifa



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: AU: Link is raised by a lynel, Gen, Lynel Raised Link, Tags to be added, Temporary Character Death, Wildlings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 07:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18027182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockhearttifa/pseuds/lockhearttifa
Summary: Link was born in and lived in the wild his whole life along with his father, who happened to be a red-maned lynel. When he found the Master Sword, he was forced to become a knight of Hyrule, and to become the hero that they all needed. But being taken away from your home to an unfamiliar place and culture is never easy.





	Born to the Wild

**Author's Note:**

> So I didn't have this beta read, and I'm honestly posting it right now so I can get some feedback because I'm not yet sure if I'm going to continue it. Depending on the interest in it, I might do so.
> 
> EDIT: Thank you to everyone for giving feedback and support! I will continue this and I am working on a second chapter.

“Starting today, you will be the appointed knight of Princess Zelda.”

Link had never officially met the princess before. He had spent two years training as a knight, in a military training camp outside of the castle, and is eighteen now. He had been at the castle for only four months when he’d seen Sheikah handlers, along with the princess, observing a walking guardian. The guardian began to malfunction and fire beams of light at random.

On instinct, Link had rushed in, grabbing the first thing he could see to deflect the beams back at the guardian and ultimately destroying it.

Link says nothing.

“Does he understand?” The king asks to the guard captain accompanying Link.

“He should be able to understand. Link, you listening?”

Link looks toward the guard, and back at the king. He’s paying attention.

“Link,” the king addresses, “You are to guard the princess with your life.”

This, he understands. He nods.

“Good. As the bearer of the sword that seals the darkness, and the chosen hero of the Goddess, this is your duty. Fight alongside the princess and defeat the Calamity.”

The sword. It’s heavy on his back. Link wishes it hadn’t called out to him, that he’d left it alone where he found it.

_**“I hear something,”** Link says. **“Coming from the forest.”**_

_**“What is it? What do you hear?”** His father, red-maned lynel, looks quizzically around and pricks his ears forward, but can’t hear anything aside from the wind and smaller creatures. The forest is surrounded by mist._

_**“A voice. A feeling. It wants me to go to it.”** _

_They walk into the forest._

Link is meeting the Champions today. He supposes he’s one of them too. There’s a ceremony, a lot of people, a banquet. Link knows when to kneel, when to stand. He eats his fill and lets people speak to him, but he still says nothing. He’s not able to catch all their words anyway.

All of the Champions and the Princess Zelda speak to him as well, mostly just greetings and introductions, but Mipha and Daruk, the Zora and Goron Champions, make small talk. They do most of the talking while Link tries to follow.

Mipha seems to be able to tell that Link is struggling and signs something with her hands, but Link doesn’t understand this either.

Link sees the guards in the corners of the room, along the walls and by the doorways. Link knows he is allowed to leave and go into other rooms as much as the other guests, but Link is afraid that if he tries he will be dragged back into the room.

_The Master Sword, it tells him its name. He can hear something like jingling on the wind, but he sees nothing around. The sword was calling him. He walks up to it, where it’s raised on a pedestal. His father stands by and watches._

_When he grips the sword, it grips him back, in his soul. He grunts in surprise, but doesn’t let go. The sword is pulled from its pedestal, Link is panting from the effort, but he feels stronger than before._

_When they leave the forest, they’re ambushed by Hyrulean Knights. Link is seized before he can properly retaliate, and his father is surrounded. Link screams and struggles as he is dragged away, and his father bellows, worried and angry._

_Link is taken into the nearby military camp and bound. He can still hear his father’s roars, until he can’t anymore, and he’s scared then._

_Only his hands are tied, behind his back and to a pole. Knights fill the room and stare at him, talking. One is holding the Master Sword._

_Link thinks maybe it’s theirs, and that they think he was stealing it. He growls at them whenever they try to come closer. There’s some jeering and laughter among their chatter, but he doesn’t know what they’re saying._

_One kneels before him and doesn’t flinch when Link tries to bite him and hisses._

_“He’s like a wild animal. The sword chose a boy like this?”_

_“Shut up,” says the man kneeling. “If he’s the Sword’s Chosen, then he is to be Hyrule’s hero. He’ll have to learn, and we will help him.”_

_Link still growls and hisses at the man, stops momentarily when he realizes the man is untying him, but attacks viciously with his hands and teeth the second he’s up. The same man who untied him is the one to knock him back to the ground. Link is dizzied with the blow, and doesn’t get up again._

The Champions have another ceremony, by themselves. Daruk suggested it, but Link didn’t know what was happening except that he was needed for it. He’s directed to kneel on the platform at the sacred grounds before Zelda, so he does so.

Zelda says a lot of words, and he understands some of it, he thinks most, but he still isn’t quite sure why they’re here. The other Champions are talking to the side. The princess looks and sounds sad. When she’s finished speaking, Link looks up at her.

Her expression reveals frustration, and Daruk says, “I think he forgot his lines.” Link looks at him.

Zelda speaks, “You’re supposed to say--” but she doesn’t finish, instead she huffs, “Nevermind, we’re done here. It’s fine.”

Link tilts his head, somewhat confused. He stands when the princess turns away, and they all follow her back to the castle.

“Did you forget what to say?” Mipha asks him as they walk back.

“I am supposed to say something?”

Revali scoffs, and everyone in the group turns to glance at him, even the princess.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve even heard you speak,” Zelda says. But Link says nothing more, so she stops talking to him.

_“Repeat after me, Link: I am a knight of Hyrule.”_

_It has been almost a year since Link was taken in. He hadn’t been ‘Link’ before, but that was what they called him and it was now his name._

_“Speak. Repeat after me: I am a knight of Hyrule.”_

_“I am a knight of Hyrule.”_

_“Good.”_

_The knights had to teach him Hylian. Their alphabet, written language, spoken words, they had him repeat many things he didn’t understand, and some he did. They taught him their words, and he was beginning to understand basic things at the very least._

_He’s not used to moving his mouth this way, and it’s hard. He misses a lot of what’s said to him, but actions are very clear. He knows when he is expected to fight, when he is to eat, when they tell him to go a certain direction or to follow the drills that other knights are doing._

_Link had to learn. He could not run, there were too many to fight, so he had to learn._

The princess must bring Link on her trips outside the castle. They are in Rito Village so that she can learn about the Divine Beast Vah Medoh and the surrounding shrines in the area. Link likes leaving the castle. He knows they trust he won’t run anymore, he knows he’ll be caught if he did.

He wonders if he’ll ever see his dad again. He thinks his dad would have rescued him from the camp if he were still alive though, and believes him to be dead. But sometimes Link pretends his dad is still around.

On the landing platform up high in the village, Link surveys the mountains and the lake. A gust of wind comes up from below and he shields his eyes from any dust as Revali, the Rito Champion, flies up and perches on the railing.

With as much grandeur in his posture that the Rito can muster, he flaps his arms and gesticulates around himself, giving a long speech about being a great archer, or something. He stalks around Link and Link follows his movements with his eyes, turning his head. Revali gets too close to his face then and Link bares his teeth, growling lowly. He recognizes a challenge in Revali’s gaze.

Revali makes a noise of disgust. Then, Revali backs off a few steps and laughs without humor. “Maybe you’re just stupid.”

Link knows what that word means, he’d been called it many times before.

His hand is on the hilt of the Master Sword. “You want a fight,” he says.

“Oh not here,” Revali says, his tone of voice hard for Link to place but still mocking, “What about up there?” He points up at Medoh flying above with a flourish. “Oh, you must pardon me! I forgot you have no way of getting up there on your own.” Revali flaps his wings, and takes off from the landing with a blast of wind. He shouts something back down at him, but Link can’t hear it well enough to understand the words or meaning.

 **“Coward,”** he growls under his breath.

_“Stop growling, you son of a bitch.”_

_“Wasn’t he raised by a lynel or something? Maybe that growling is words for them. I bet he’s telling you to fuck off,” the knight laughs._

_“Shut it, Niall. In any case I don’t speak wild child I speak Hylian. C’mon, idiot, say something!”_

_Link spits on the man’s feet. He gets punched in the face._

That night, Link challenges Revali on the ground, outside the village.

“So you actually want to settle this then?” The way it’s phrased as a question betrays that Revali knows this is a bad idea, but his eyes say he has too much pride to back down.

“Shut up,” Link says, and readies his stance.

“So you do speak Hylian. Here I thought you might be… how should I put this? Thick-skulled.”

Link draws his sword.

“Shouldn’t we make ground rules first? We can’t kill each other obviously. We have a duty to fulfill.”

Link thrusts the Master Sword into the dirt, leaving it to stand upright.

“...Alright. No weapons then. Shall we?”

Link makes the first move, dashing forward and punching Revali in the stomach as hard as he can. Revali squawks as he’s hit, and is knocked backward four feet, clutching at his stomach.

Link’s fist is raised again to knock Revali over the head, but Revali lets go of his abdomen and spreads his wings, lifting off before he can strike him again. Revali grabs Link with his talons, one on his arm and the other gripping his tunic, and drags him into the air.

He can’t get that high up with the extra weight, but it’s high enough that when Revali drops him, the wind is knocked out of Link’s lungs. He gasps and writhes on the ground.

_“Stand up! Stand up and fight!”_

_The knight captain is screaming at him. Link has been knocked into the dirt for the third time by the fifth knight that today. It’s training, but it isn’t the same as his father’s. He knows how to use a sword and shield, as well as bows, but the fighting style is different, and they won’t let him catch his breath. He’s tired, but the knights are taking turns with him while he gets no rest between the challenges._

_Link gets back to his feet and roars._

Revali lands about six feet from Link and begins to monologue about his victory. He does not react fast enough when Link jumps to his feet and charges him. Link hits Revali with enough force to drive him to the ground, and Link straddles him and just starts hitting.

Revali thrashes and fights back, trying to throw Link off of him. He yells at him to get off, and Link grabs a fistful of feathers and yanks.

“What are you two doing?! Get off of him!”

Link startles at the voice of the princess and scrambles off of the Rito Champion, standing near him instead. Revali gets up more slowly.

“What is going on?! I heard you yelling down here- I’m sure the whole village did! Tell me immediately: What happened?”

Link can’t speak. Revali glares at him.

“You won’t tell me?”

“With all due respect, princess,” Revali pants, “You aren’t our mother.”

Revali knows immediately that this was the wrong thing to say. Zelda is furious.

“I am fifteen and yet I seem to be more of an adult than either of you combined. I come down to find two of my Champions… _fisticuffing_ like children! You’re supposed to be working together! And instead you find some way to take a rivalry too far! You should both know better.”

Neither have anything more to say, and Zelda gives a long-suffering sigh, looking awfully miserable and afraid, and tells them to go back to village.

Later, back at the castle, Link is berated and punished by both his superior and the King. The captain in charge of him cuts his hair. Zelda doesn’t say anything about the hairstyle change.

**Author's Note:**

> Like the top note says I am continuing writing this, but also just letting y'all know Im moving nearly 1000 miles in about 2 weeks or so, so new updates might not come until after I move


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